Carton-type container holders



Nov. 1, 1960 c, RHOE 2,958,444

CARTON-TYPE CONTAINER HOLDERS Filed March 7. 1958 haw/1721'.- [/arencef. Rfioe CARTON-TYPE CONTAINER HOLDERS Clarence E. Rhoe, 206 W. 7th St.,Cotfeyville, Kans.

Filed Mar. 7, 1958, Ser. No. 719,853

4 Claims. (Cl. 222-183) This invent-ion relates to new and usefulimprovements in holders for containers, particularly carton-typecontainers which are commonly used for liquids such as milk, fruitjuices, and the like, and the principal object of the invention is toenable such containers to be easily and conveniently held, especiallywhile pouring the contents thereof, so as to eliminate any possibilityof the container slipping out of the hand of the user.

An important feature of the invention, therefore, resides in theprovision of a holder having means to removably and supportably receivethe bottom of a container and further means for releasably engaging orembracing the top portion of the container, whereby the container isfirmly held in the holder, yet may be quickly and easily removedtherefrom, when so desired.

Another important feature of the invention resides in the provision of aconvenient handle on the holder, whereby the same may be easilymanipulated.

Some of the advantages of the invention reside in its simplicity ofconstruction, convenient and dependable operation, and in itsadaptability to expeditious and economical manufacture.

With the foregoing more important objects and features in view and suchother objects and features as may become apparent as this specificationproceeds, the invention will be understood from the followingdescription taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, whereinlike characters of reference are used to designate like parts, andwherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a holder in accordance with theinvention, illustrating the container therein by dotted lines;

Figure 2 is a front elevational view thereof;

Figure 3 is a top plan view of the holder per se;

'Figure 4 is a fragmentary isometric view on an enlarged scale, showingthe lower portion of the holder; and

Figure 5 is a fragmentary isometric view on an enlarged scale, showingthe upper portion of the holder and the upper portion of the containertherein.

Referring now to the accompanying drawings in detail, the holder inaccordance with the invention is designated generally by the referencenumeral and is intended for use with substantially rectangularcarton-type containers 11 which are commonly used for liquids such asmilk, fruit juices, or the like.

Such conventional containers usually include an upper portion havingconvergent top walls 11a terminating in a finger grip or handle 1112,the upper portion being folded so that a recess 12 exists at each of twoopposite sides of the top portion between the top walls 11a and anunderlying container wall member 110, as will be clearly understood.

The holder 10 embodies in its construction a substantially rectangularbase 13 including a bottom plate 14, a back plate 15, a pair ofsubstantially triangular side plates 16, and a front plate or strap 17,the latter having Patented Nov. 1, 1960 angulated ends or ears 18 whichare secure-d to the side plates in any suitable manner, such as byrivets 19.

Side support means in the form of a pair of angle bars 20 extendupwardly from the base 13, specifically, from the two rear corners ofthe base, the lower end portions of these angle bars being suitablysecured to the back plate 15 and to the side plates 16, such as by therivets 21. A cross member 22 extends between and is rigidly secured tothe upper ends of the angle bars 20, such as by rivets 23, and asubstantially U-shaped yoke 24 is pivotally attached to the upper endsof the angle bars by suitable pins or rivets 25. The yoke 24 normallyextends forwardly from the angle bars as shown, but may be swungupwardly about the pivots 25 as indicated by the arrow 26 in Figure 1 toa position indicated by the dotted lines 27.

A vertically elongated handle 28 is provided at the back of the holder,the main portion of the handle being substantially U-shaped in crosssection and being provided at its lower end with a strap-like extension29 which is secured to the back plate 15 of the base 13 by a rivet 30.The upper end of the handle 28 is provided with a similar extension 31which is secured to the cross member 22 by suitable rivets 32 andterminates in a forwardly and upwardly directed, tongue-shaped keepermember 33.

The holder is of such size that the distance from the bottom plate 14 tothe yoke 24 in its forwardly extending position is substantially equalto the height of the container 11 under the top walls 11a, while thesize of the base 13 and of the yoke 24 corresponds substantially to oris slightly larger than the cross-section of the container.

When the invention is placed in use, the yoke 24 is first swung upwardlyto the position shown at 27, whereupon the container 11 is tiltedsomewhat and the bottom portion thereof is inserted into the base 13. Asthe container is returned to its upright position, the keeper member 33will fit into the recess 12 at one side of the top portion of thecontainer, as is best shown in Figure 5, and will thus prevent thecontainer from sliding upwardly in the holder. The yoke 24 is then swungto its forwardly projected position wherein it supportably embraces theupper portion of the container, immediately under the level of the topwalls 11a, and. prevents the container from tilting forwardly in theholder. Moreover, the angle bars 20 supportably embrace the two rearcorner edges of the container and coact with the yoke 24 in preventingthe container from becoming laterallydisplaced.

As such, the container may be conveniently lifted by the holder when theuser grasps the handle 28 and may be readily manipulated to eifect thepouring of the contents thereof. In this regard it will be understood,of course, that the portion 11b of the container is adapted to be formedinto a pouring spout in the conventional manner, and it will be alsounderstood that the portion 11b is laterally bendable so that it may befolded to one side or the other, to permit the yoke 24 to be swungupwardly or downwardly during installation or removal of the containerwithout interference with the portion 11b.

As disclosed, the holder readily lends itself to fabrication from metal,but if preferred, the entire device with exception of the yoke 24 may bemolded integrally from plastic material, or the like, with a separatelyformed yoke 24 pivotally attached thereto.

While in the foregoing there has been described and shown the preferredembodiment of the invention, various modifications may become apparentto those skilled in the art to which the invention relates. Accordingly,it is not desired to limit the invention to this disclosure, and variousmodifications may be resorted to, such as may lie within the spirit,scope and intent of the appended claims.

What is claimed as new is:

l. The combination of a carton-type liquid container and a holdertherefor, said holder comprising a base having the bottom of saidcontainer removably positioned therein, side support means extendingupwardly from said base, a yoke pivoted to the upper end of said sidesupport means for swinging movement from a horizontal position whereinit releasably engages the upper portion of said container to an upwardlyswung position wherein it is disengaged from the container and thelatter is free to be removed from said base, and a handle provided onsaid side support means.

2. The combination as defined in claim 1 wherein said container includesa top portion provided with a recess, and a tongue shaped keeper memberprovided at the upper end of the side support means of said holder andextending into said recess.

3. A holder for carton-type liquid containers, comprising a base adaptedto removably receive the bottom of a container therein, side supportmeans extending upwardly from said base, a yoke pivoted to the upper endof said side support means for swinging movement from a hori- Zontalposition wherein it is adapted to releasably engage the upper portion ofa container to an upwardly swung position wherein it is disengaged fromthe container and the latter is free to be removed from said base, and ahandle provided on said side support means.

4. The device as defined in claim 3 together with a tongue-shaped keepermember provided at the upper end of said side support means and adaptedto fit into a recess in the top portion of a container.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,775,373 Coralline Dec. 25, 1956 2,801,743 Geen Aug. 6, 1957 2,810,503Krueger Oct. 22, 1957

